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The Conservation Value of Agricultural Landscapes

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Applied Ecology and Human Dimensions in Biological Conservation

Abstract

Agricultural landscapes are formed by a matrix of agricultural fields (i.e., agroecosystems) more or less interspersed by remaining fragments of native vegetation, water courses, roads, and human habitations. Although their presumptive mission is the production of domesticated species or their commodities, agricultural landscapes always support some wild species, which can demand human efforts to be conserved, controlled, used, or simply monitored. Such efforts can only be effective if public policy recognizes the multifunctionality of agricultural landscapes, which should be based on the following principles: (a) The conservation value of agricultural landscapes is more related to the landscape β-diversity than to the matrix α-diversity; (b) the agricultural impacts on biodiversity transcend the limits of agricultural landscapes affecting water courses and nature reserves outside them; and (c) agriculture depends on ecosystem and evolutionary services provided by biodiversity in order to be sustainable.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa Postal 96, Piracicaba, SP, 13416-000, Brazil

    Luciano M. Verdade

  2. Estação Ecológica Tupinambás, ICMBio/Ministério do Meio Ambiente, Av. Manoel Hyppólito do Rego, 1907, São Sebastião, SP, 11600-000, Brazil

    Marli Penteado

  3. Ecologia Aplicada, Universidade Sagrado Coração (USC), Rua Irmã Arminda, 10–50 Jardim Brasil, Bauru, SP, 17011-160, Brazil

    Carla Gheler-Costa

  4. Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK

    Graziella Dotta

  5. Centro de Biologia Ambiental /Faculdade de Ciências da Univrsidade de Lisboa, Ed. C2, 5º Piso, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisboa, Portugal

    Luís Miguel Rosalino

  6. Laboratório de Ecologia Isotópica, CENA/Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa Postal 96, Piracicaba, SP, 13416-000, Brazil

    Luís Miguel Rosalino

  7. Instituto de Biociências (IB), Department of Ecology, Universidade de São Paulo,Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Vânia Regina Pivello

  8. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción, (CICYTTP-CONICET)/FCyT-UAdER/FCAL-UNER, Dr. Materi y España, CP 3105, Diamante, Entre Ríos, Argentina

    Carlos I. Piña

  9. Curso de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Santo Amaro, Rua Prof. Eneas de Siqueira Neto, 340, São Paulo, SP, 04829-300, Brazil

    Maria Carolina Lyra-Jorge

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  1. Luciano M. Verdade
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  2. Marli Penteado
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  4. Graziella Dotta
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  5. Luís Miguel Rosalino
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  7. Carlos I. Piña
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  8. Maria Carolina Lyra-Jorge
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Correspondence to Luciano M. Verdade .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, Universidade de São Paulo, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil

    Luciano M. Verdade

  2. Curso de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Santo Amaro, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Maria Carolina Lyra-Jorge

  3. Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción, Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y, Rios, Argentina

    Carlos I. Piña

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Verdade, L.M. et al. (2014). The Conservation Value of Agricultural Landscapes. In: Verdade, L., Lyra-Jorge, M., Piña, C. (eds) Applied Ecology and Human Dimensions in Biological Conservation. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54751-5_6

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